Best Buy's Fourth of July sale takes up to $400 off M3 iPad Air tablets, with cellular models seeing the steepest discounts.
The 11-inch 128GB cellular M3 iPad Air is down to $499, a confirmed $250 markdown. The equivalent M4 model costs $899. The gap grows further up the storage ladder: the 13-inch 1TB cellular M3 drops to $1,049, while its M4 counterpart lists at $1,699. Apple's stated differences between the two generations are a faster chip and improved wireless technology; the hardware design is otherwise largely unchanged.
The sale timing works in buyers' favor because Apple recently raised M4 iPad Air prices, widening the spread between old and new. At $499, the entry-level cellular M3 sits $400 below the cheapest cellular M4 option. The practical case for paying that premium narrows considerably when the actual feature gap is this slim.
Retailers routinely run these kinds of clearance events after Apple refreshes a product line, but the markdown depth here is on the larger end of what typically shows up.